"Being healthy is hard. It takes too much work."
"I tried it once, and I just can't seem to stick to it. I don't have the will power!"
I hate the term "will power". It's a term that always has a have or don't have attached to it. If someone tries to make a change and doesn't the reason is that they don't have will power. If someone accomplishes a tough goal that requires sustained effort and change, it is credited to the fact that they do have will power. Will power becomes a trait of the haves and the have nots.
THE TRUTH IS...
Everyone has will power.
Every day, you make voluntary decisions (not the involuntary decisions like breathing and blinking) based on will. Albeit the process of decision making can be very quick and very subconscious, you still make decisions - you exercise your will. You have power to exercise your will - or, will power.
You know that cookie in the cupboard that is calling your name? That is will power. If you know it is something you should not have but have it anyway, your will powered you to partake, not to abstain. If you abstain, your will powered you to walk away rather than partake. Will power can be positive and move you towards where you want to be. Will power can be negative and keep you away or move you further away from where you want to be. The difference in the direction will power takes you is choice.
WOMAN UP! You ALWAYS have choice. Own the choice. Account for the choice. Manage the choice.
If you say you have no choice, you are not owning the power of your free will and you are fooling yourself. If you say there is NOTHING you can do to move you toward the positive side of will power, you are not taking accountability for your exercise of choice. If you say that this is just the way it is and you just have to live with the negative side of will, you are making excuses - you are not managing the power or choice that you've been given.
Even if you can't choose to step into the positive side of will power in the blink of an eye, you can own your choice and will power, and choose to move in small increments toward that direction-seek out help and information, or a support group. Be accountable for your will power and choice by changing an attitude about your will, realizing that it is not responsible for you, you are responsible for you. Manage your will and change in a way that is sustainable by making one small change at a time, or by looking for things you are already doing or are capable of doing that will move you toward your goals. Each thing you do to change direction moves you one step closer to the goal line. Each thing you do powers your will toward your goal rather than away from it.
With all of that being said, realize that if at times your choices in your will don't move you in the positive direction, it does not mean you have failed. It means you are human! But also realize that if you tend to not be making overall progress in the positive direction, you need to step back and reassess. You are the ONLY one accountable for your will power. Don't permanently give that part of your personal power away to anything.
Your will is amazingly powerful. Steward it in the right direction.
